Beginning of the end for 'Breaking Bad'

Updated 11:27 am, Friday, August 9, 2013

Dean Norris (left) and Bryan Cranston co-star in “Breaking Bad,” which is filmed in Albuquerque, N.M. Series creator Vince Gilligan says the setting is another character.

Dean Norris (left) and Bryan Cranston co-star in “Breaking Bad,” which is filmed in Albuquerque, N.M. Series creator Vince Gilligan says the setting is another character.

Photo: AMC

Beginning of the end for 'Breaking Bad'

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If your eyes are starting to dilate and your palms are wet with sweat, there's a reason.

The final fix of “Breaking Bad” is upon us. Sunday night's episode is the first of eight that will wrap up the addictive saga of Walt, Jesse, Skyler and Hank. The prospect of all this delicious suspense, vivid characterization and twisted humor coming to an end will surely fill fans with equal amounts of dread and anticipation.

Judging by the powerful opening round (8 p.m. on AMC), viewers are in for a quite a ride.

At the halfway mark of this final season, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) felt so overwhelmed with guilt over the death and destruction brought about by his partnership with Walter White that he decided to abandon the meth business and put as much distance between him and his mentor as possible. Walt (Bryan Cranston), too, promised his wife, Skyler (Anna Gunn), that he is out, leaving her with a glimmer of hope that she no longer needs to protect her children from his secret profession.

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Yet, in a pivotal series moment, viewers were left wondering if it really is over for any of them. During a trip to the Whites' bathroom, DEA agent Hank (Dean Norris) discovered a book that made him realize that his seemingly mild-mannered brother-in-law may actually be the elusive and dangerous drug lord known as Heisenberg. Will we finally see Hank confront Walt with this new information?

The first episode begins with a flash forward: Walt, looking very different in a full beard and head of hair, visits his old home, which sits in disgrace, fenced off and covered with accusing graffiti. He enters anyway — with a purpose; he's there to retrieve something.

Cut to the present, just after Hank finds the evidence pointing to Walt. He gathers up his wife and makes a speedy exit from the Whites' dinner party.

Meanwhile, Jesse grows more and more desperate to rid himself of the two duffel bags of blood money. In a climactic — and rather exhilarating — scene, we watch him chuck packets and packets of the cash from his car into a poor section of town.

While we may feel blue over losing the Sunday night staple, the cast, gathered before TV critics during a recent AMC session, seemed in high spirits as they and creator Vince Gilligan recalled favorite moments and bizarre aspects of the show's five-year history.

Cranston spoke of how initially stunned he was upon learning just how much Walt would change — from the chemistry teacher with cancer who only turned to meth-cooking to ensure his family would be taken care of after his death to the greedy and power-hungry manipulator and killer that he eventually became.

“The notion of trying to take a serialized television series and change this character was never done before,” Cranston said, “and I was aghast by that.”

However, after “looking into this character and what happens to him and the transformation,” he said, “I really believe that everybody is capable of good or bad.”

Still, an aspect of Walt he treasured the most was his talent as a teacher: “It was his one true passion besides his family, and it was the only chance in the show ... surrounded by muck and mire, that (we saw) he truly had a gift.”

Paul and Gunn spoke of the surprising way the audience greeted each of their characters.

“Jesse is a drug dealer. He's a murderer, but for some reason ... you really care for him. You want to protect him,” Paul said. “And with Skyler, she just obviously wants to protect her family, but I think the audience is really rooting for the bad guy, and so Skyler inevitably ends up being the bad guy.”

Gunn shared his amusement.

“The person who actually stood in the way of Walt the most consistently was Skyler,” she said. “So she became kind of a villain to people who really, really identified with Walt and were behind him and were rooting for him.”

Best moment of the Q&A? Gilligan's exuberance over how he'll send his series into the sunset.

“I can't wait for everyone to see it,” the executive producer said. “I hope I am not wildly wrong in my estimate that I think most folks are going to dig the ending.”

Jeanne Jakle's column appears Wednesdays and Sundays in mySA, and she blogs at Jakle's Jacuzzi on mySA.com. Email her at jjakle@express-news.net.